The present invention is directed to the cutting and punching arts and more particularly to a novel and improved tool for cutting and punching a DIN rail and to a novel punch arrangement for such a tool.
DIN is a German industrial standards committee similar to SAE or AISI in the United States, for example. DIN rail is a mild steel, aluminum or copper channel shaped strip, usually produced by roll-forming and generally available in 8-10 foot lengths. The channel comes in a variety of cross-sectional shapes which are designed to provide a raised track or channel for fastening electrical components, such as switches, relays and circuit breakers into electrical panels.
Generally the 8-10 foot lengths are cut to the desired length, whereupon mounting slots are cut or punched adjacent opposite ends of the length of rail to facilitate mounting and alignment of the rail relative to an electrical panel or the like. The slots which are punched in the ends are somewhat oblong in shape to permit some play for achieving a desired alignment. Moreover, it is the usual practice to punch one of the slots in a generally horizontal orientation, that is, coaxial relative to the elongate rail; and the other slot in a generally vertical orientation--that is, generally perpendicular to the axis of the elongate rail. This generally perpendicular, relative alignment of the slots permits somewhat greater play in mounting the rail to achieve the desired alignment thereof.
A number of DIN rail cutter tools are available in Europe. However, there is room for improvement of these tools in a number of areas. For example, tools heretofore provided have generally been arranged for cutting only one or a limited number of configurations of DIN rail. One or more separate punches must then be used to punch the required slots. In contrast, we propose to provide a tool which may cut any of a plurality of different shapes or configurations of DIN rail, thus requiring but a single tool for the shop or industrial installer rather than a plurality of relatively large expensive tools to accommodate the several different shapes of DIN rail. We also propose a single tool including both cutting and punching portions.
Heretofore, assuring correct punching of the slots in the desired vertical and horizontal orientations at opposite ends of a length of rail has presented some problems. In particular, the punches and dies must be correctly aligned with each other for forming the slot. Hence, it has heretofore been the practice to provide separate punch and die sets which are oriented at the desired two orientations for punching the respective slots in the DIN rail. A particular problem with providing a single but rotatable die set is assuring that the operator will not rotate only the punch member or only the die member of the set and not the other. Should the operator misalign the punch and die during rotation or reorientation thereof, it will result in considerable damage to the tool if an attempt is made to punch a slot with the punch and die misaligned. Accordingly, we have devised a novel arrangement for a rotatable punch and die which may be rotated to a desired orientation and yet in which proper alignment of the punch and die is assured at all times.